Today’s adventures started early in the morning, as the sun appeared from the distant horizon. Our first round of whale watching departed National Geographic Sea Bird at 6:30 in the morning. Weather conditions were quite windy, and an atmosphere of true adventure could be felt throughout the search for our first gray whales of the day. Once we arrived to Boca de Soledad, we found shelter on the leeward side of Santo Domingo Island. Here, we encountered at least five whales, including a mother and calf pair, which was showing interesting behavior. The calf spent a good amount of time splashing, and occasionally breaching. It seemed to be curious to take a look at us, since on several occasions it took its full head out of the water, with seeming curiosity. We had very nice opportunities to get good looks at these gray whales, and regardless of the windy conditions, we all came back on board with smiles on our faces.
At around 11 in the morning, we lifted the anchor to sail towards La Entrada. This is the southern opening of Magdalena Bay, and our exit to the open Pacific. We got underway and crossed Canal de Soledad, a narrow channel where we enjoyed watching the dunes, mangrove ecosystem and a good diversity of birds.
Once we sailed between Magdalena Island and Santa Margarita Island, we were officially sailing the open Pacific Ocean. The swell was not bad at all and we started getting a very nice ride with following seas, which lasted all night long. On the way to Cabo San Lucas we saw three humpback whales, several sea turtles, a handful of California sea lions, and interesting pelagic birds including black-vented shearwaters.
Tomorrow we will enter the Gulf of California. Our experience of exploring the southern peninsula by sea will be complete. A very different and equally fascinating Baja California waits for us as we leave behind the place where gray whales are born.
